CVE-2026-46227
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) implementation. A race condition exists in the SCTP_SENDALL path where a cached list entry is not properly revalidated after the socket lock is temporarily released. This allows a local attacker or a remote attacker (via a network abort) to trigger a use-after-free or type confusion vulnerability. Successful exploitation can lead to a controlled indirect call, potentially resulting in arbitrary code execution.
Statement
A stale list cursor in the SCTP_SENDALL path can be used after sctp_sendmsg_to_asoc() temporarily drops the socket lock while waiting for send buffer space. During this window another local thread can peel off or close the cached next association, or the association can be removed by a network ABORT, leaving the iterator to advance to a freed or migrated object. This creates a use after free or type confusion in the SCTP association list walk and may allow kernel memory corruption. For the CVSS the PR:L is used because triggering requires a local unprivileged process with access to SCTP socket operations, not administrator rights. The issue is not a pure remote network bug because local code execution is needed to drive SCTP_SENDALL and related socket operations, although network ABORT traffic can participate in one removal path.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, prevent module sctp from being loaded. Please see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/41278 for how to blacklist a kernel module to prevent it from loading automatically.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7 | N/A | 7 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Other
Technical Impact: Alter Execution Logic; Unexpected State
The attacker can gain access to otherwise unauthorized resources.
Integrity,Other
Technical Impact: Modify Application Data; Modify Files or Directories; Modify Memory; Other
Race conditions such as this kind may be employed to gain read or write access to resources which are not normally readable or writable by the user in question.
Integrity,Other
Technical Impact: Other
The resource in question, or other resources (through the corrupted one), may be changed in undesirable ways by a malicious user.
Non-Repudiation
Technical Impact: Hide Activities
If a file or other resource is written in this method, as opposed to in a valid way, logging of the activity may not occur.
Non-Repudiation,Other
Technical Impact: Other
In some cases it may be possible to delete files a malicious user might not otherwise have access to, such as log files.
Other
Technical Impact: Unexpected State
The product may perform invalid actions when the resource is in an unexpected state.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
